‘Mad Mabel’ by Sally Hepworth is brilliant and unexpectedly gut-wrenching

/ Pamela Kramer

“Mad Mabel” is a magnificent novel. Usually, after reading a story that is engrossing, that has unexpected twists, and that really packs a punch at the end, writing the review is easy. I like to say about a great novel, “The review practically writes itself.” So while I think this is a brilliant novel, and I believe it would be a fabulous choice as a book club read, the review for this complex story is not writing itself. There are so many layers to Mabel’s story that delicacy is required so as to not spoil the novel for those who have not read it.

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‘Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For’ by Leonie Swann is the last novel in this senior murder mystery trilogy

/ Pamela Kramer

When one gets to a “certain age,” it’s a kick to read novels, especially murder mysteries, in which the main character is also a person of a “certain age.” And in Leonie Swann’s very clever “Miss Sharp Investigates” series, Agnes Sharp and her fellow pensioners, who all live together in Sunset Hall, her large home, prove that age is no deterrent to fighting crime.

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‘Cat on a Hot Tin Woof’ by Spencer Quinn is the latest in the fabulous ‘Chet and Bernie Mystery’ series

/ Pamela Kramer

How can you not love a book narrated by a dog who understands a lot of what’s going on, but also — in true, believable doggy style — misses so much? Spencer Quinn has an almost supernatural ability to write like a dog. Or at least what we think our dogs really might be thinking as they go through life with us. And in his (and Chet and Bernie’s) latest story, “Cat on a Hot Tin Woof,” there’s finally a cat! Actually, as Chet might put it, “There might be two cats, but I can’t count past two.”

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Murder and Mindfulness: An Inseparable Pair? Highly recommended: ‘Murder Mindfully’ by Karsten Dusse

/ Pamela Kramer

Author Karsten Dusse is well-known in Germany as a lawyer, TV star, and very funny man. “Murder Mindfully” is his first novel, and it’s a doozy, This magnificently conceived novel amply demonstrates all his talents and does so in a stunning fashion that will leave many readers, including this one, with huge smiles and awe that such a humorous piece jumps off the pages of a pretty darn gory murder novel.

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‘The Hired Man’ by Sandra Dallas; historical fiction about the dust bowl and tragedy

/ Pamela Kramer

Well-written, gripping historical fiction like “The Hired Man” takes us back to another place and time and allows us to experience that setting through the eyes, and usually meticulous research of the author. Sandra Dallas takes us back to Colorado in 1937, during the time of the Dust Bowl, when instead of rain falling from the sky, dirt blew in from neighboring states blanketing the ground and covering everything with layers of dirt and grit. Thanks to her careful, detailed descriptions we can almost feel the grit in our mouths and eyes as a storm blankets the town with dirt.

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‘Dog Person’ by Camille Pagán is a love story: to dogs, to people, to bookstores, and to books

/ Pamela Kramer

“Dog Person” is Camille Pagán’s ultimate love story. It’s a story about all kinds of love, and maybe, most of all, it’s a love story about the love we feel for our dogs and what they bring to our lives. But it’s not “just” a dog story (funny thing, when I was typing this review, without thinking, I wrote “Dog Story” as the title). This lovely, heartwarming, heartbreaking, beautifully conceived novel is about love in all its permutations; a mother’s love, our love for our animal companions, our love for our partner, our love for our parents (or not), our love for our friends and family, and our love of reading and finding safe spaces in which to read.

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‘Moonlight Runner’ by Karen Robards is historical fiction at its best

/ Pamela Kramer

Karen Robards’ brilliance lies in her ability to take historical events, add fictional characters, and wring us dry emotionally as her strong, independent female protagonists march through important historical events risking everything to follow their beliefs. “The Moonlight Runner” takes us to Ireland in 1918. The Great War, as they called World War I, has just ended, but instead of being felled by a German-speaking enemy, people are being killed by an invisible organism known as the Spanish flu. Living in a small Irish town on the coast is Rynn Carmichael.

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‘Storm Warning’ by Alice Henderson is a magnificent combination of thrills and conservation

/ Pamela Kramer

Alice Henderson’s thrilling and fascinating series about Alex Carter, a wildlife biologist whose past adventures have taken her to study jaguars, wolverines, polar bears, and caribou, now takes her to Hawai’i. In “Storm Warning,” Alex has been asked to monitor a beach where hawksbill turtles are laying their eggs. The timing is perfect as she was just coming off of another job and had the time. Also, returning to the island where she lived with her parents for a while brings back fond memories.

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‘Bloodlust’ by Sandra Brown is a sexy thriller

/ Pamela Kramer

In Sandra Brown’s new novel “Bloodlust,” the action is set in the same Louisiana town as her previous novel with “blood” in the title, “Blood Moon.” And while the main characters from “Blood Moon” appear in this novel, it’s not a sequel. The similarities, though, are hard to ignore. In the new novel, it’s Detective Mitch Haskell who sits stage center, with therapist Dylan Reede taking an important, but secondary, role. The main characters from “Blood Moon” are supporting characters, and it definitely helps to have read “Blood Moon” first, but this is certainly a stand alone novel as well.

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‘The Hospital at the End of the World’ by Justin C. Key feels something like the end of our world as we know it

/ Pamela Kramer

“The Hospital at the End of the World” is as much a warning to the world as it is a medical/mystery novel. Justin C. Key implies (or sometimes says boldly and unequivocally) that Artificial Intelligence presents a potential danger to humanity that we ignore at our own very real peril. Though the book deals specifically with the effects of a future AI on our medical systems and beliefs, we can see all too clearly the frightening effects that the technology poses for all of us.

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‘The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love’ edited by Alice Hoffman

/ Pamela Kramer

We read books about dogs for the same reason we have dogs in our lives: we just can’t get enough of them. (At least I can’t.) And in this touching and memorable collection of dog essays, “The Best Dog in the World,” those of us with dogs might just think that our beloved dogs belong in there as well, because the best dog in the world is usually our own dog. The essays are expertly edited by Alice Hoffman, who in the Introduction, shares her touching story about Houdini, her beloved dog. And she writes what all dog parents know, “I still don’t think I was worthy of him.”

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